Synopsis:

For years, Brock Whitfield served God with joy and contentment at the mission hospital he founded in Angola.

When Joy Stockman joined their team as a surgical assistant, he found a woman whose zeal for God and heart for people equaled and in many ways surpassed his own. Before he knew it, his admiration and respect for her blossomed into love. After years of serving alone, Brock began to hope that God was giving him another chance to love and be loved in return.

A crisis arose within the family causing Brock to put his personal plans on hold. As he prayed for guidance, Brock’s faith and obedience were put to the ultimate test as God brings the perfect person into his life and then asks him to give her up.

I would like to thank Celebrate Lit for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

What a fascinating, thought-provoking book! Loving Brock started out with a journey to a remote village in Angola, Africa where the chief made an inappropriate request regarding Joy and then a dangerous journey over a rickety bridge during a rainstorm.

Author Joan Deneve has written another fascinating story filled with adventure, hard decisions, and the grace of God. While this story does not have anywhere near the level of action in the first book of the series, Saving Eric (which I enjoyed as well), it held my interest through to the end and was hard to put down.

The characters were unusual in the fact that Brock and Joy were both in their 60s. It made a nice change from the many stories that are out there about the 25-34-year-old crowd (which I also enjoy). Due to their maturity, Brock and Joy handled things differently than most of the younger characters do and I appreciated the way that they were willing to have frank discussions even when the subject matter was difficult.

There was a discussion between Brock and Moses reflecting back on when Moses came to know Jesus as his Savior. Not to give any spoilers, suffice it to say this resulted in a lively discussion between my husband and me about what the Bible says about this situation. I’m not sure I agree with the advice Brock gave to Moses, but it did not in any way detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I really loved how Brock was such a changed man from earlier in his life. The way he went from living selfishly to following God, even when it was not easy, was beautiful and challenging. Joy was a joy and had overcome trials and difficulties herself, and came out shining brightly for the Lord.

Loving Brock contains a strong and clear message of salvation.

Sweat streamed down Brock’s temples and into his close-cropped beard. He took a moment to catch his breath. He’d learned long ago that God didn’t always make things easy and effortless, and he’d quit expecting him to.

Instead, he strove to be grateful for favor and blessings and to be gracious when things went wrong.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Joan is giving away a grand prize of the entire The Redeemed Side of Broken Series, African blend coffee, coffee mug, a magnet from Angola, and a personalized message from the author on a special card from Angola!!

About Joan Deneve

Joan Deneve enjoys being a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and author, but her favorite role and defining title is that of Christian. Joan teaches English in a Christian school and has a passion to help young people fall in love with Christ and equip them to become all God wants them to be.

Joan shares her life with Rene’, her husband of forty years. Together they reside in Prattville, Alabama, a quaint city with southern charm and hospitality.